


The Queen

by mychakk



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Chess, F/M, One-Shot, Philosophical mussing of a Psychopath, overuse of a metaphor, written in 2015
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-19
Updated: 2018-01-19
Packaged: 2019-03-06 22:39:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,166
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13421106
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mychakk/pseuds/mychakk
Summary: One could say, there had been many chess pieces on the Chessboard that was Sherlock Holmes' life.Yet there was no Queen.Or so had James Moriarty thought.





	The Queen

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this in 2015 and posted it on ff.net back then. Recently the lovely **deemura** on Tumblr mentioned this story and I've finally decided to post it here as well. It's written post S3, pre-TAB. But it references mostly the first two seasons. 
> 
> This has never been beta'd, so all mistakes are mine. I'm not a native English speaker.
> 
> Nevertheless, hope you'll enjoy! :)

 

**The Queen**

**xxx**

Chess.

A most intriguing (if rather  _boring_  in the end) game. Yet, James Moriarty could not deny the _fun_ in the analogy that this game provided for his most interesting opponent. After all, one could say, there had been many chess pieces on the Chessboard that was Sherlock Holmes' life, right?

Firstly, there was _the King_ himself. The  _most_  important piece whose mere presence decides whether the game is _on_ or  _off_. The One Piece that sets all other pieces' purpose and reason of existence – either be it protecting him, or if need arised – sacrificing oneself for him: Their King. The one piece, James noted with a wicked smile, that needed to be _overcome_ in order for him, James, to win the game.

But that was not all; there were also _the Pawns_ , weren't they? The simple pieces that were somewhat connected to the King. The first row of defense (and attack) that was ready to strike or move accordingly to the needs of their Most Important Chess Piece. Oh, James _did_ note their existence although dismissively. After all, those were nothing but insignificant pieces useful only for their simple actions: the uncountable Homeless people with their skillful ability to blend in the backgrounds throughout the streets of London; the nameless lab and morgue assistants at St. Bart's providing the needed (and expected) lab and experiments' results; the tiresome crime technicians and New Scotland Yard workers ready with meaninglessly cases and too-easy-to-solve puzzles. All _the Pawns_ \- on the periphery of The King's life but never  _important_  enough to play a bigger role.

 _The Rooks_ were different. Sturdy and straight-forward in their moves. Ah, yes, with a simple action and the _Castling_ move they provided (with an additional help from a few pawns) a shelter - the literal and the figurative one - for the King himself: An old lady with a tray full of biscuits, immeasurable amount of patience and a healthy dose of affection. A silver-haired DI not giving up on The King during his most difficult time, but grudgingly bringing more and more interesting reasons to stay away from the siren-like calling of a needle. _The Rooks._ Although important enough, (James always paid  _some_ attention to the _slightly_  more significant ones), in the end, the Rooks stayed - nonetheless - only on the side.

Next, there came  _the Knight._ Ah, the _Kni-ight_! A _most_ interesting piece, James noted with glee. Always entertaining. The sidekick to the King, always on the stand-by, ready to jump into action. The military man with a moral spine, and yet …never moving in the simplest, preferable way, James begrudgingly admitted. You just seemed to predict his move, and yet it ended up moving neither exactly in a straight line nor diagonally. It was just jumping suddenly into the middle of the battle, turning the odds in most unsuspected way. Ah, yes, _most_ interesting, the Knight. A piece that had not been present for a long time in the Chessboard until one day- it just appeared …and stayed. The King's Right Hand, indeed. And,  _boy_ , did James had  _such_  a fun using him to toy with the King. Oh, yes, he  _did_!

Ah, right… Now-

 _The Bishop_. Hm, the Bishop was actually a most elusive piece, one that stayed close to the King (despite the King's obvious dissatisfaction to the fact) and one that was most concerned with protecting his precious little … _King_. The Bishop observed and striked from the side, his moves never being straight-forward, but rather more shifty in their diagonal way. Just like the Institution he works for!, James cackled with glee. The Bishop thought he could control everything, yet he didn't even have a _half_ the freedom to move as he'd please. Nothing but the ability to do some control damage in order to save and protect the King. Funny little piece, James decided, but not really worth that much attention in the end.

And finally, that left _the Queen_.

Or, as a matter of fact, the  _lack_  of her on the Chessboard that was Sherlock Holmes' life.

Oh, James had noticed from the very beginning that there was no Queen present on the Chessboard. And thus, he had thought he'd better send one. After all, a game cannot be played without all the pieces in attendance, right? Right! So James had found the  _most_  suitable (to his own purposes, of course) Queen for the King! Elegant, posed, intriguing. The very epitome of  _Queen-ness_  if he had to say so, himself (and he did). And boy, did he have  _fun_  observing her in action. Intriguing, eluding, …seducing. Just like he had predicted, she had captured the King's attention with her intelligence (and her best  _dress_ , too!). She had held it for months afterward, and worrying the Knight and the Bishop into sleeplessness in the process. What a  _fun_  it had all been!

And, yet… the supposed Queen James had sent did  _not_  stay on board for long.

The King  _himself_  had rejected her, had removed her from the game.

And thus, there was _still_ no Queen to start the proper stand-off between the Two Kings.

Or so had James Moriarty  _thought_.

For, you see, as he had decided ( _impatiently_ ) to play the game anyway (despite the lack of a full set of pieces on board); and as he had started to  _toy_  with the King, watching with glee as all the pieces – the Pawns, the Rooks, the Knight and even the Bishop – danced and moved and entertained  _him_ , James Moriarty had forgotten about _one_ particular rule of the Chess Game.

And it had cost him  _everything_.

As it happened, there had been this simple, unremarkable Pawn from Bart's. A dismissible one, not-mattering-at-all in Jim's-From-IT's bigger scheme. And this Pawn had slipped past his radar. Steadily and quietly she had moved on the board. Square after square. Past James' defenses and past his own pieces. Past his  _own self_  to the other – James' – back rank of the board.

But the King had seen this and when she had reached the opposed rank of the board, the King had seized the opportunity.

And suddenly! -  _By the King's own making_ \- there  _was_  a Queen on Sherlock Holmes' side.

There was  _THE_  Queen on Sherlock Holmes' side.

In the middle of James Moriarty's own pieces, there stood a havoc wrecking Nemesis in the form of a small, brown haired, chocolate eyed woman. With the power of life and death at her hands, she was able to move freely in every direction on the board.

And within that moment, all the carefully crafted plans James Moriarty had made, crumbled like house of cards under the briefest, slightest breeze. Even if the outcome was still death – it was not the one and not in the way James had  _predicted_ and anticipated.

Yes, with the appearance of  _the_  Queen the game _had_ been won.

But, even more so, with the appearance of  _the_  Queen - just like that - James Moriarty had lost.

**xxx**

**End**

**xxx**

**Author's Note:**

> Reviews makes my day (and may inspire the fickle muse of mine too) ;)


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